Has anyone switched satellite carriers? I was wondering if I could use the same set up (fm direct adapter, wires and antenna) if I switched from XM to Sirius. Would buying just a new receiver do? Or would I have to rewire everything and get a new adapter?
Thank you!

I have done the same thing and initially tried to use the XM antenna on the Sirius unit. It works "OK" at best. Signal strength with the XM antenna was about a third of the signal strength using the Sirius antenna. Then you get into the terrestrial vs satellite reception...another story in itself.
As far as the power goes, probably relates to the unit itself but will also likely have to be rewired. If you have the adapter that plugs into either the antenna wire or directly into the CD changer plug, that should be the same

No haven't switched yet. I've been thinking about it for a while but haven't done it cause I've been lazy thinking I'm gonna have to rewire everything in the Jeep. 2 months sounds good though. If you have more details PM me please! Thanks so much!

Stupid question: does anyone know what the difference is (when trying to improve reception) between a satellite fm tuner and a relay? I understand with the tuner you are supposed to be able to control your satellite through your stereo, but just concerned about reception.
Thanks and happy new year!

I got a Sirius Startmate3 receiver as a Christmas gift and connected it to my radio using a Sirius FM Direct adapter and the reception is great. I wanted to do a direct wired connection via AUX IN or LINE IN input but since I have the radio with the in-dash 6-Disc changer this connection was not available.

So I ended up switching to Sirius and set up my unit in a different place because the receiver was too big for the above the mirror location. I now have my old XM set up available for anyone interested. The pic below is the new Sirius. The link is to the old unit I have if anyone wants it. Thanks for all the feedback! Cheers http://xmradio.com/xpress/index.xmc

Stupid question: does anyone know what the difference is (when trying to improve reception) between a satellite fm tuner and a relay? I understand with the tuner you are supposed to be able to control your satellite through your stereo, but just concerned about reception.
Thanks and happy new year!

You can't control the sat radio thru your OEM radio with an FM tuner relay, what that does is knock out your existing FM reception and replace it with only the FM output from you Sat radio on that channel. Makes for a cleaner signal thru the FM. If you want to control Sirius over your OEM radio you'll need an OEM Radio with the 'sat' button and a Sirius direct connect tuner.

i got an xm sports caster for christmas what a joke. My reception is crummy and with the excption of opie n anthony an occasional bad word the name of song and artist i am not impressed. is it worth 12 bucks ?

You can't control the sat radio thru your OEM radio with an FM tuner relay, what that does is knock out your existing FM reception and replace it with only the FM output from you Sat radio on that channel. Makes for a cleaner signal thru the FM. If you want to control Sirius over your OEM radio you'll need an OEM Radio with the 'sat' button and a Sirius direct connect tuner.

i got an xm sports caster for christmas what a joke. My reception is crummy and with the excption of opie n anthony an occasional bad word the name of song and artist i am not impressed. is it worth 12 bucks ?

thats cause its a 30 dollar unit. I know you got it for Christmas but you get what you pay for.
Well that and u can blame the FCC for the crappy FM reception. even with Sat radio had to be controlled by the facist communication c*cksuckers. Aparantly with the wireless FM Modulators the signal output was too strong and would 'bleed' signal to other radios in the imediate area. Usually the FM band it would play on would be between 88.1 and 89.5. Now think back to the time you scanned thru those stations... whats there? Talk stations, Church music, you know old people stations, now then you cruise up to the stop light listening to your new XM radio, Opie and Anthony are doing something like the infamous 'Baby Bird' and the little old lady that was listening to church music is now listening to Pat getting puked on. Little old lady is appalled calls the FCC and they step in and make XM recall its product and turn down the FM output. Honestly in order to get any type of decent reception you'll need an FM Modulator or a direct input from your radio

[QUOTE=jbone303;42511]i got an xm sports caster for christmas what a joke. My reception is crummy and with the excption of opie n anthony an occasional bad word the name of song and artist i am not impressed. is it worth 12 bucks ?[/QUOTE

XM is not worth the 12$ we had it at work and it just blows switched to sirius and we are much happier. Opie and anthony suck they are on the fm radio

i got an xm sports caster for christmas what a joke. My reception is crummy and with the excption of opie n anthony an occasional bad word the name of song and artist i am not impressed. is it worth 12 bucks ?[/QUOTE

XM is not worth the 12$ we had it at work and it just blows switched to sirius and we are much happier. Opie and anthony suck they are on the fm radio

thats my 0.2 cents

Right O&A they suck.... That must be why they have a larger listening audience than Stern now. Of course they are on FM radio, out of 250 million people less than 10% listen to sat radio. You want to be successfull you go where your fans are. Stern was popular because people wanted to see what he'd do next, well some went and paid their 13 bucks a month but a whole lot didn't. If I wanted to listen to a pompas ass that only works 4 hours a day 4 days a week. I'd listen to Howard but acording to him, he's already done everything so there isn't anything left to do. I love my XM radio, I've dealt with both companies and between Sirius' shoddy Sat reception, and the stations that play the same song every 5 minutes, I pick XM every day of the week, its not for everybody, I love the NFL but I'd rather watch the game than listen to it on the radio. I don't care about NASCAR, but thats just me. I have a Samsung Helix and it simply blows away the Sirius version feature for feature.

yea i've not had any problems with Sirius drop outs or reception problems

back to the mounting... anyone mount it anywhere other than above the rear view mirror or just in front of the shifter... I cannot use either spot... right now I have it suctioned to the front windshield and I HATE IT there!